Glory: The Role of the Shepherds, Luke 2:8-13

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Good morning once again.

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We're gonna be reading out of Luke chapter two, verses one through 21. In your pew

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Bible, that would be page 1020, 1020. Once again, here now,

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God's inspired word. In those days, a decrees went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

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This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town.

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And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called

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Bethlehem. Because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

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And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.

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And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

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And an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were filled with great fear.

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And the angel said to them, fear not for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.

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For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you.

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You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly coast, praising

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God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.

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When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the

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Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.

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And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told to them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds had told them.

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But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising

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God for all they had heard and seen as it has been told to them this day. Father in heaven, we pray,

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Lord, as the word of God is preached, that your spirit would enjoin it, that it would do what it's intended to do in the minds and hearts of the people here today,

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Lord God. Father, we pray that we would hear the voice of our Savior loud and clear, that you would get me out of the way and that your word would be claimed and you would be glorified.

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It's in Jesus' name we pray. Please be seated. Amen. Thank you,

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Bella. So once again, it's truly an honor to preach on Christmas day.

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I mean, how many times do you actually get to even just come to church on Christmas day?

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It generally doesn't fall that way. So it is truly an honor and a privilege to preach God's word here today.

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Now, some of you recognize the scripture that I just read because you've read the book of Luke, the gospel of Luke, many, many times before, several times.

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And it also might sound familiar to others of you who haven't read the book of Luke, but who have seen the

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Charlie Brown Christmas special. Began airing in 1965. And the

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Charlie Brown Christmas special doesn't air on TV anymore. And it's not because TV executives don't want

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Bible scriptures read on the air. Although that's probably true, that's not why. It's not a conspiracy theory.

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It's because the Apple computer company bought the rights to the show and air it on Apple TV only.

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So you can still watch it. But this verse in Luke chapter two, read by Linus at the school play, was trying to teach

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Charlie Brown what Christmas was all about. And I think he did a great job.

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You can't go wrong if you just read the scriptures. This is actually a verse that we can learn a whole lot more from, which hopefully we're gonna do today.

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So starting in verse eight, we see that the shepherds were in the field watching their flocks, just another normal night.

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But then an angel appears to them with a weighty message of good news and great joy for all.

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But the verse starts out, and in the same region. Well, what region is that?

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We see in the verses preceding this that it's the same region of Bethlehem, the prophesied birthplace of Messiah, Micah 5 .2.

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And the same region of the temple in Jerusalem, less than five miles away from this field where the lambs would be sacrificed to make atonement.

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The shepherds are shepherding sheep that would be sold to Jews who were coming to the temple in Jerusalem to make atonement for their sins.

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And that's gonna be important for later. They were actually called Levitical shepherds, and they were responsible to tend and guard the flocks that would be used for sacrifice.

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The region was also referred to as the city of David. So this is David's hometown.

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And if we know anything about David, the city where he would be shepherding his own flocks when he was young, when he was a shepherd, and also where he was anointed to be king.

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But one thing I noticed quickly and asked was, why was this message given directly to the shepherds and not the kings listed in verses two and three of chapter two?

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The kings mentioned were Herod, Caesar Augustus, and Quirinius. If you're gonna announce this message, wouldn't you wanna announce it to kings who have more authority and maybe better distribution channels to get the message out?

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Maybe not, obviously not. I think one reason God chose the shepherds was because of an overlooked prophecy in Jeremiah 33, which reads, in the cities of the hill country and in the cities of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them.

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That's shepherds. Flock shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord. Behold, the days are coming, declares the

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Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

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In those days and at that time, I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

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God said that he would send the Messiah to Judah when the shepherds were watching their flocks.

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In other words, when the shepherds were under their hands to fulfill his promise. Not coincidentally, there would be an irony here as well.

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The righteous branch that God would send, we know is Jesus, would eventually become both a shepherd and a king.

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He would become a shepherd first when he begins his ministry, even calling himself the good shepherd in John 10, and then later a king after his death, burial, and resurrection, where John in Revelation would call him the king of kings, the

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Lord of lords. Jesus is both our king and our chief shepherd.

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We would also see a foreshadowing of this in the Old Testament account of David, right?

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David was a shepherd as well, who then became a king. This takes place in the city of David.

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All these things are not coincidentally converging on one another.

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There's also another reason the message wasn't told to the kings. It was told to the shepherds first, and Philip Ryken says it like this.

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There's another reason why the shepherds were chosen, however, and why Luke alone among the gospel writers included them in his book.

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Shepherds were outcasts, and thus their presence at the manger shows that salvation is for everyone.

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We tend to romanticize the shepherds, especially since there are so many good shepherds in the Bible, but they did not enjoy a very good reputation in their day.

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Because they lived out in the fields, they were unable to keep the ceremonial law, and thus they were treated as unclean.

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They were also regarded as liars and thieves, which is why their testimony was inadmissible in a court of law.

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Shepherds were despised, and listen to this. With the exception of lepers, they were the lowest class of men in Israel.

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So aside from the lepers, the angel comes to what would be recognized as the lowliest class in town.

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And this passage we just read, God sent an angel with this message to reveal himself to the lowliest of people in society.

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To save them. Better yet, he would voluntarily condescend to become one of them.

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To become a human being, and to become a shepherd. This glorious announcement from the angel to the shepherds would include

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God taking on flesh. Born unto us this day, to enter as a baby, vulnerable, defenseless, and wrapped in swaddling cloths.

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And then later grow older, become a shepherd, and then a savior, and finally, our king.

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Tell me this isn't the best episode of undercover boss you ever saw. Wow, he didn't come to the ruling class, to the elite first, because that's what they would have expected.

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You know, if the Messiah comes, he'll never come to those shepherds. Certainly he's gonna wanna talk to us first. But no, he came to the lowliest first.

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Those of no reputation, no authority, no means to show us that he's no respecter of persons.

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No other human being is above or beneath another human being. We are all equal, and we've all fallen short of God's glory.

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So Jesus comes to the lowliest of society to draw near to them, to show them that he's there for the world, no matter what your economic status, no matter what your title, no matter what your ethnicity, even the

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Gentile dogs, as the Israel would call them. Yes, they would be included in God's plan of salvation.

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Why? Because he came to purchase people out of every tribe, every tongue, every people, every nation.

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Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of God. He came to rescue widows, orphans, and outcasts.

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I can relate. God demonstrates for us the behavior we're to have towards every other human being we meet, as we are all image bearers of God.

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Sinful for sure, but image bearers nonetheless. We pray every week that we would love

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God's law, right? That we would love God's law, that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and what?

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Love our neighbor as ourself. Why? They're fellow image bearers of God.

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God created them in his image. Not one person is worth more than another, as evidenced by the shekel offering in the

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Old Testament tabernacle. In Exodus 30, verses 13 to 15, it reads, each one who is numbered in the census shall give this, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

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Everyone who is numbered in the census from 20 years old and upward shall give the Lord's offering.

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Listen, the rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than the half shekel.

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When you give the Lord's offering to make atonement for your lives, the rich didn't pay more, and the poor didn't pay less.

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Atonement was equal for everyone. We are all on equal footing beneath the cross.

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And take notice in this verse that the kings and the shepherds were both watching something.

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The politicians were watching their citizens, registering them, counting them for the census. You know, we need taxes.

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And the shepherds were watching their sheep. The sheep that would be used by the Jews to sacrifice to make atonement.

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Both parties had a mission, a goal that involved sacrifice.

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And make no mistake, in every case in life, you will sacrifice something to achieve your goal.

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Like the politicians, you can sacrifice others to make a name for yourself. Or like Jesus, you can sacrifice yourself to make much of God's name.

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We are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices. Why, for our glory?

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No, for God's glory. It's no coincidence that each of the political officials in this chapter were named

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Caesar Augustus, Quirinius, earlier Herod. But no names for the shepherds.

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They're nobodies in society. Yet the angels visit them with the greatest announcement ever made to mankind.

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The lowly, working class Joe Blow, the meager shepherd, who will later make much of God's name, received the glorious birth announcement first.

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Why, the last shall be first. Remember, brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.

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Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many of you were influential. Not many were of noble birth.

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But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

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He chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him.

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So let's get back to verse eight. The shepherds were in the field at night. Therefore, we can safely assume they were working in the dark, right?

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Except for maybe a small fire that they may have lit for themselves. And then an angel of the

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Lord appears. Just one angel, just like Zechariah.

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It's the same wording. An angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah. An angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds.

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And just like with Mary. But this appearance to the shepherds is different than Mary and Zechariah.

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This appearance was accompanied by the glory of the Lord. You realize Zechariah and Mary didn't, they got an angel coming to them, but they didn't get the glory of the

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Lord that shone around them. That word glory in Hebrew is kabod.

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It means weightiness, heavy. In Greek, it's the word doxa.

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That's where we get our doxology from, right? We're praising God. It's the root word for doxology.

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So kabod means heavy, weighty. Have you ever heard some guy from the 60s say, hey, that's heavy, man, right?

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That's what this is. It's deeply significant. This is different than the message to Mary, different than the message to Zechariah.

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Important as they were, this is weightier. And this glory was shining.

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The glory of the Lord shone around them. So they went from the dark blackness of night to being surrounded, engulfed by the brilliant white light in an instant.

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And the scriptures say they were terrified. It wasn't just fear.

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It was great fear. It's kind of like the fear you get when you're driving along at night and all of a sudden the red and blue halogen lights start flashing behind you, the berries and cherries, if you know what

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I'm talking about. Then you look down to see, oh my goodness, I'm doing 77 miles an hour. It's that kind of fear times 50, right?

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Now, it's kind of difficult to use that illustration around here because everybody somewhere in this room is related to a law enforcement person.

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Nobody really gets tickets, so it may not be a good illustration. So here, the shepherds go from watching their sheep to worrying, fright, fear.

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They're so afraid, so worried, that the angel has to tell them, fear not. I have good news of great joy.

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No speeding ticket for you. The same phrase, fear not, is what the angel had said to Zechariah, and it's what the angel had said to Mary as well, because being met by an angel is no casual thing.

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It's frightening. It's a frightening experience, and this event was coupled with the

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Shekinah glory of God. Now, we live in a day and age where people are said to have met with angels, been taken by an angel to such and such a place, and not one of these accounts that these people talk about do they ever say that they were afraid.

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Now, today is not the time or place to go into this. It's Christmas. I don't want to dwell on this, but suffice it to say that the enemy disguises himself as an angel of light, so don't be fooled.

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Don't be fooled when people say, oh, I met with an angel, and he told me this and that. Really, were you afraid? No, thank you, got it.

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So after the admonition to not be afraid, the angel says, I bring good news of great joy.

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Good news, where have you heard that word before? It's the Greek word euangelion.

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It means to evangelize. Literally, in Greek, the angel says, I evangelize you.

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Think about it. Jesus is born on day one, and it's on day one that evangelism begins.

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And I so appreciate these guys who love to evangelize. Pastor Chris, speaking at the Planned Parenthood, and the guys out at Port Jeff, it's so good to be involved with a congregation that actively proclaims the gospel.

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And this is good news of great joy. Not just joy, great joy.

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Now, great joy is a phrase that's used sparingly in the Bible, and the next time we'll hear it in Luke would be the very last verse of his gospel.

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Chapter 21, verse 51, when Jesus was carried up into heaven, and they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing

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God. Great joy. So this is the gospel.

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Gloriously coming directly from an angel to a shepherd, all in fulfillment of God's eschatological promises.

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This promise of good news and great joy reaches as far back as Genesis 3 .15.

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Everything starts there. However, we'll also see it more specifically regarding this current passage.

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It's an allusion to it in Isaiah 40, verses nine through 11. It reads, go up on a high mountain.

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Hey, where have I heard that this morning? Go up on a high mountain, Oziron, herald of good news. Lift up your voice with strength,

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O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up and fear not. Say to the cities of Judah, behold, your

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God, he's coming. Behold, the Lord comes with might and his arm rules for him.

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Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd.

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He will gather the lambs in his arms. He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with the young.

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You hear what he's saying? This shepherd is gonna come and bring his lambs to himself in his own arms.

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Go tell it on the mountain, Jesus Christ has been born. 12 chapters later in Isaiah 52, we'll read, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, your

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God reigns. The voice of your watchman, the shepherds, they lift up their voice together.

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They sing for joy, for eye to eye, they see the return of the Lord of Zion.

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Again, you can't get any better news than this. God is fulfilling his plan to establish his kingdom on earth to rescue sinners from their sins, bringing them peace on earth and he's ushering in the new creation.

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And this was not for Israel only. This was for all people of all nations.

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The angel himself says so. Elsewhere in Isaiah, he says, all the nations will flow to the mountain of the

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Lord. Salvation has now been expanded to all people. And what exactly is happening on this day?

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Look at verse 11, unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is

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Christ the Lord. A savior who is being brought into the world for the people, fulfilling

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God's long awaited and much prophesied promise on that day. All these prophecies are pointing forward to this day when he enters into the world.

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It's the fulfillment of and a reference to Isaiah 9 .6. Now I know you've heard this scripture a million times, so this will make one million in one.

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For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder.

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Thank God. And his name shall be wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace.

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Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.

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The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. This is not dependent on human power.

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This is dependent on the power of God. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

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Dan Doriani adds some insight and explains it like this. A savior is born, one who will deliver

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Israel from its oppressors, just as the judges delivered Israel. Though Jesus' deliverance is greater since he frees his people once for all time and from sin, their greatest enemy.

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The baby who is the deliverer is also the Christ, the anointed king of Israel, the one who fulfills the covenant promises made to David.

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His messianic status is confirmed because he is born in David's city in Bethlehem.

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All roads, all these prophecies point back to one person, Jesus. The arrival of the savior of the world, the long -awaited and promised anointed one, the

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Lord himself, is being announced to the shepherds. They are the privileged few who get to hear this news first, not the kings.

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And just to make sure they would know that this isn't a deception or a lie from the enemy,

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God grants them a sign. This will be a sign to you. You'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths.

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That's verse 12. He gives the shepherds assurance that they need to believe what the angel tells them.

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The wise men get a shining star and the shepherds get a smelly diaper. It's actually much more glorious than that, significant.

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Actually, most moms will know. You know why you swaddle a baby. Swaddling a baby is important.

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They wrap the baby tightly. Gosh. They wrap the baby tightly like they were when they were in the womb and they keep their hands close to keep them from scratching themselves.

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And the baby's comforted by that. It's also protected from hurting itself. You put the baby, you wrap it up, right?

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Kid looks like a little burrito. That's what we used to call it when our kids were little, the baby burrito, right?

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So why on earth would rough and tumble sheep herders who weren't around to take care of their own children or swaddle them be given a sign of a baby being swaddled in cloth?

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I mean, the magi got the star in the sky. They were taught to look for this star. The shepherds are swaddling cloth?

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Rough and tumble sheep herders? Remember though that these are shepherds who are raising sheep that are slated to be sacrificed to make atonement for sins.

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Again, they were known as Levitical shepherds because the lambs they sold for sacrifice had to be without spot or blemish.

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So when the lambs they were shepherding were ready to give birth, the shepherds would protectively swaddle their newborn calf, wrapping it tightly to keep it from hurting itself, to keep it from causing a blemish.

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The sign that God would give them would be one that they could understand so that when they saw the one born this day wrapped in swaddling cloths, they would understand that he too was being kept without spot or blemish.

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In other words, that he, just like the baby lambs, was being kept free from spot or blemish and slated for sacrifice.

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He was being born in the exact same region as all of the other sacrificial lambs who were being born for sacrifice.

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And the angel says to the shepherds specifically, unto you will be born.

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To you shepherds who take care of the sheep and birth them, another lamb is being born to you.

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And he too needs to be without spot or blemish because he too will be sacrificed for the atonement of sin.

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And we know that this baby would go on to become the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

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Merry Christmas. That is God's gift to us. Don't miss that.

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He was born to die. For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son.

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And if that weren't enough, here's where I think I see things get even more interesting and more frightening.

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Verse 13 reads, and suddenly, this wasn't like an ease into situation.

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Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising

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God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased.

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There's that word again, glory. Weighty, significant. The scene goes from one angel with a birth announcement to a large multitude, a throng of angels praising

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God and singing. There is now a group, a mass of angelic beings surrounding them and singing.

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I can only wonder what must have been going through their minds at that moment. This is an overwhelming scene and one that has much more implications than meets the eye.

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And I think it's because of this word hosts, a multitude of heavenly hosts.

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Jehovah Sabaoth. Jesus is the Lord of hosts. Host is the word, host in the

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Greek is the word strata. And the word strata means armies. Jesus is the

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Lord of the armies. So this can be paraphrased like this. Suddenly there appeared alongside the sole angel, a great mass, a great army of angelic warriors praising

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God. I think this should change the way we think about the picture we might have in our minds of angels flowing with soft white robes and harps singing like they're in an elegant choir.

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Is that the picture you might've had in your mind? I think we need a better picture in our heads.

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This is the heavenly Marine Corps, a battalion of angelic soldiers coming to do battle, just like we're supposed to do every

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Sunday. Why an army? Because of what we read in Revelation 12 today.

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It's no accident that I picked that. We read that for a specific reason. Revelation 12 verses three and four.

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A sign appeared to the shepherds and another sign appeared in heaven.

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Behold, a great red dragon with seven heads and 10 horns and on his head, seven diadems.

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His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And this is on Christmas day.

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The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that when she bore her child, he might devour it.

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How's that for a surprise Christmas verse? Try throwing that one around the dinner table today.

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He stood before the woman ready to devour the child. The dragon issued a command, stop that birth.

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And God sent the army. Can you start to see the reason why it was a heavenly army that was sent and showed up?

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And more importantly, what was the first things these heavenly hosts did when they suddenly showed up?

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They sang, gave glory to God, they worshiped.

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Worship is warfare. Don't forget, this is why we emphasize prayer as well as the

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Sunday worship service every week. We read in Revelation 12, how do you overcome?

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By the blood of the lamb and the word of your testimony. You speak truth to people, you give them the gospel, you let them know who

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God is, you let them know that there's going to be a day of judgment. You let the truth go forth, that's how we overcome.

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Church, I want you to sing hymns in church the way you sing your favorite songs in the car. You don't care because nobody hears you, right?

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If we're gonna celebrate Christmas, let's do it like the angels did, loud and proud, fearless.

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I don't care what your voice sounds like, God does. As long as you're worshiping and praising him, the demons are running.

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God sent a heavenly host, an army of angels to sing. Do you remember what the armies did, the armies of Israel did before they went to war?

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They sent in the praise and worship team. Your voice is necessary.

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Look down at Revelation 12, seven. We read, now war arose in heaven.

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The birth of the Christ child, the God man, was a declaration of war. They declared war on him.

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Jesus was coming into the world to redeem it and take it back and to save the bride given to him by his father.

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And the adversary, the accuser of the brethren, was not gonna go down quietly.

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There's war, send them. So a multitude, a large number, a mass of warring angels was dispatched to earth to ensure that the child didn't become dragon food.

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Hear my heart when I say this to you because I love you. It's not one particular political party that's gonna take the church down or kill you.

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You know what's gonna take us down and kill us? Soccer, dance, football, baseball, something ball.

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Now those are all good things, don't get me wrong. But they must come underneath the ultimate thing because we're in a war and prayer and worship is vital to us winning.

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Use your voice. Reading Revelation 12 brings us right back to Genesis 3 .15.

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The root cause, the reason the whole war is taking place to begin with. God says,

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I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring.

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He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. The seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent cannot cohabitate within the same space without enmity.

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There will be constant hostility between the two. Only one side will win and only one side has been promised victory by Jesus himself and he will be with them to the end of the age.

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So in Luke 2 .14, we get to hear the army of angels sing and proclaim glory to God, weight significance to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.

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It's also translated elsewhere as peace on all those upon whom his favor rests.

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Notice that that limits the scope of the people who it's describing. It's not peace on earth for everyone.

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Why? There's a war going on. It's peace on earth with those with whom he's pleased.

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That's not everyone. That limits the blessing and extends it to only those with whom he is pleased.

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And we know that God is not pleased with everyone. We're in a war. There is enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman.

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And that's why there's an army of angels dispatched to that scene. True peace can only come from the prince of peace,

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Jesus himself. But you can't be at enmity with him and have peace with him at the same time.

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So you must come to him humbly. That's why he came into the world. He humbled himself.

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He's God. He humbled himself, took on flesh, willing to die on the cross for his people.

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You now must come humbly to him. The shepherds took seriously what the angel said and what the army sang.

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They wanted to see the sign. And so when the shepherds went in haste to see what the angel told them, their experience was confirmed.

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And what was the next thing they did? They bore witness of it to Mary. Verse 17 reads, and when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning the child.

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They bore witness publicly, verbally. I bet you they sang all the way back to the fields after they saw

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Jesus. Then in verse 20, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising

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God for all they had seen and heard as it had been told to them. They left worshiping.

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So the shepherds went from watching and worrying to witnessing and worshiping.

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My prayer is that we would do the same. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace with those on who he is pleased.

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Do you have peace? Is God pleased with you?

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The question is that I have, are you at peace with God like the shepherds were at peace with God? Have you come to him on his terms or are you still at enmity with him?

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So what are the terms? Here are the terms. Unconditional surrender. Repent of doing things your way and come under the

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Lordship of Jesus, the Lord of hosts, the Lord of the armies. You are the offender of God in this relationship.

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So you don't get to negotiate the terms. To be honest, you're lucky you're alive right now.

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He could have taken you out at any moment before this when you sinned, but you're still alive by his grace.

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He upholds you by the power of his hand. Life is a gift to you, not an entitlement.

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There's no bargaining in this arrangement. You can't extend your day one day more or less.

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You don't have that power. Your sin has estranged you from God and the only thing that can bring you back and make atonement and make it right between you and God is the

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Lamb of God, Jesus, the Messiah, who was born without spot or blemish to be sacrificed as a sin offering.

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This is the one whom I've been proclaiming to you this whole morning. He is the gift that God has given to humanity and what we celebrate on Christmas day.

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Please do not walk out of here rejecting God's son and then wish people Merry Christmas, knowing what's being celebrated and yet rejecting it.

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There's nothing merry about that. That's enmity with God. God sacrifices his only son for our sins as a free gift and he says, repent, change the way you think about your sin, turn from it, believe the gospel.

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The gospel is good news of great joy. Surrender, trust in that, he will give you eternal life.

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But if you reject his son, his wrath, which is simply his justice, will abide on you and you will pay for your own sins.

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If you reject the son, you reject God's forgiveness, but you can't reject

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God's penalty. You are in no position to negotiate. His peace and his favor rest upon those who meet the conditions of his covenant.

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Repent from your sin, place your faith and trust in Jesus as your payment. The kings and politicians sacrifice their people through taxation for the sake of their own positions and their own comfort.

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While the child born in Bethlehem, who would become the good shepherd, who would become the king of kings, sacrifices his own life to give you eternal life.

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The king lays his life down for the sheep. This is the greatest love story you will ever know.

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And this king rules and reigns today, right now. Today we are celebrating his birth into the world that he created.

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We know this so many different ways. It's the year 2022. Based on what?

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Common era? Really? Really? What was common? Oh, I know. Jesus, before Christ, Anno Domini, the year of our

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Lord. Glory to God. Jesus came into this world and split time in half such that everything that happened before him is before Christ.

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Everything that happened after him is the year of our Lord. I don't know anyone else who did that.

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Glory to God. Feel the weight of that. When Linus read the passage in Luke 2, he accurately captured the meaning of Christmas.

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The promised Messiah was born in the town that raised lambs to be slaughtered, of which he would become one.

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The message came to the shepherds first, the outcasts, the misfits, one step above lepers.

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He would draw near to them and become like one of them, become like us.

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Why? To secure forgiveness, to give true meaning to our lives so that we could become like him.

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Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth with those upon whom his favor rests.

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Thank you, Lord, for Christmas day. Thank you, Lord, for Jesus Christ.

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He's ruling and reigning right now. Come to him now.

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Let's pray. Father in heaven, may we understand the magnitude of this moment, your great glory being demonstrated by sending your son into this world to become a man, to rescue his bride.

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Father, may we understand the depth, height, width, breadth of your love for your people.

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Lord, I pray for those here who are hardened. Soften their heart. Turn them towards you,

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Lord God. Grant them the gift of faith and repentance, Lord, that we would see new life in this congregation today.

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Father, what a day it is. We pray, I pray for each and every person here that we would celebrate the true meaning of this holiday.

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And remember that it is a holiday, a holy day unto you. Lord, you deserve all the glory,